Lovin' lacrosse / Page 9
Tuesday, March 4,2003
Since 1900 University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 104, Issue 111
Judge reduces Woods’ felony charge
With his felony charge
reduced, Rodney Woods is
eligible to play football for the
University pending acceptance
Brad Schmidt
News Editor
The felony conviction preventing
junior college standout Rodney
Woods from accepting a University
athletic scholarship was reduced to
a misdemeanor in a California court
Friday, ending an emotionally
charged legal battle and setting the
stage for an addition to the Ducks’
defensive sec
ondary.
“I’m pleased
that Rodney
Woods will get a
chance,” foot
ball head coach
Mike Bellotti
said. “I’m more
pleased for him
than anybody
else.”
University
President Dave Frohnmayer, who
said in February that he would
have liked to have been included in
discussions with the Athletic De
partment about the recruitment of
Woods, declined to comment on
the decision.
Friday’s verdict marked the end of
a five-week saga that pitted serious
ethical dilemmas on opposing sides.
Athletic Director Bill Moos an
nounced earlier this year that the
University would not offer athletic
scholarships to felons, prompting
Woods and his lawyer to ask that
Woods’ conviction be reduced to a
lesser offense.
Neither the University nor the
Athletic Department ever asked the
court to consider the request, al
though Bellotti and defensive coor
dinator Nick Allioti wrote letters ask
ing for an expeditious decision.
These actions, and a lack of discre
tion by University administrators,
propelled some to criticize the Uni
versity and its program.
Bellotti said the entire situation
was challenging, but he added the
need to adhere to Moos’ policy of not
accepting felons.
“I think (Woods) definitely de
serves another opportunity, but at
the same time, we have to draw the
line somewhere,” Bellotti said.
Woods was convicted of assault
ing Kevin Walker on May 19, 2000,
while two of Woods’ friends fatally
injured another man, Christopher
O’Leary. According to several re
ports, Woods initially confronted
O’Leary but did not take part in the
beating. When Walker tried to
break up the melee, however, he
too was assaulted.
Woods pleaded no contest to as
sault charges against Walker, and
he later had murder and assault
charges in O’Leary’s death
dropped. Woods spent almost nine
Turn to Woods, page 12
Flying with honor
Members of the Tuskegee
Airmen spoke Monday
at the University to honor
the centennial of aviation
Roman Gokhman
Campus/City Culture Reporter
Black American pilots are now rec
ognized for their accomplishments in
World War II, but as late as the ‘70s,
many Americans did not know that
black Americans flew airplanes during
the war.
Retired Lt. Col. Edward Drum
mond Jr. and retired Lt. Col. William
Holloman III, members of the famed
Tuskegee Airmen — the U.S. mili
tary’s first black American pilots —
told the audience that getting to fly for
the honor of the country was a diffi
cult battle.
“Those are the things that hurt,”
Holloman said. “You are laying your
life on the line, and you have to fight
to do that.”
Holloman said while he was train
ing at Tuskegee, Ala., he did not tell
his superiors he already had flight
training because they would attempt
to remove him from the program. He
said the base at Tuskegee was the only
base where blacks were allowed to
train, while white cadets honed their
skills at three or four fields. The vet
eran added that military and govern
ment officials purposefully tried to fail
black trainees to prove that they were
incapable of being trained.
Drummond, the younger of the two
Turn to Flying, page 8
iBiimniiii
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Retired Lt Col. William Holloman III, a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, shares his
personal experiences as a pilot with audience members at the Fir Room in the EMU Monday.
International
students face
INS scrutiny
A new wave of international students will
be required to interview with the Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly
the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Jennifer Bear
Campus/Federal Politics Reporter
The thought of a job interview often injects fear into the
hearts of students. But many students in the University’s in
ternational community face a tougher interview: registration
with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, for
merly the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Unlike a
job interview, where the worst possible consequence is not
getting hired, failing the special registration interview can earn
international students a one-way ticket out of the country.
Fears about the registration process have been escalating as
country after country is added to the Immigration Special
Registration list. Journalism instructor and member of the
Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation Micky Lee said new de
velopments with special registration are especially troubling
because they will affect a significantly higher number of Uni
versity students than previous registration phases.
“It is simply unfair to ask them to go up to Portland and be
questioned by the (immigration agency),” Lee said. “A lot of
international students don’t even have a car.”
Males 16 or older from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jor
dan and Kuwait are the latest batch of temporary foreign visi
tors required to take part in special registration. Students from
these countries must register with BGIS between Feb. 24 and
April 25. Ginny Stark, director of International Student and
Scholar Services, said Indonesian students make up the sixth
largest population of international students at the University,
as 75 students were enrolled in fall 2002.
Rahmat Rahmat, an Indonesian graduate student in
Turn to Scrutiny, page 8
Weather
Today: High 48,Low 40,
slight chance of rain showers
Wednesday: High 47, Low 37,
windy with rain likely
Looking ahead
Wednesday
The University Athletics Task
Force hosts a public forum
Thursday
Should Oregonians get out of
the car and pump their own?
Professor brings passion for flight to UO
Professor Emeritus William Lamon flies
his WW ll-era combat training plane through
the skies of Eugene every weekend
Ducks in profile
Roman Gokhman
Campus/City Culture Reporter
At 1,800 feet, Autzen Stadium may be eclipsed with the palm
of a hand. At 160 miles-per-hour, it takes only 15 minutes to
travel from West Eugene to Autzen and back. And on a rare
sunny day in March, the entire city can be viewed all at once.
University Professor Emeritus William Lamon — a veteran pilot
for the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Belgian cadet — is well-ac
quainted with heights and high velocity. Every weekend, he flies his
Turn to Flight page 4
Professor Emeritus
William Lamon's
passion for flight has
led him to teach
flight history classes
at the University and
fly his World War II
era North American
Harvard T-6 every
weekend.
Roman Gokhman
Emerald